High School Hangovers
by Darkest Desire
Summary: All your favorite characters from FFVIII as they would be had they gone to a typical high school. Classes, crushes, bullies, jocks…yep, just your typical high school experience.
1. What Are Best Friends For?

Summary: All your favorite characters from FFVIII as they would be had they gone to a typical high school. Classes, crushes, bullies, jocks...yep, just your typical high school experience.

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CHAPTER ONE: WHAT ARE BEST FRIENDS FOR?

"Squall Leonhart is the biggest meanie ever!" Rinoa cried emphatically as she sat down heavily on the central couch of the junior mixing area, a disappointed, angry frown marring her features.

"And why, precisely, would you say that?" Quistis inquired, raising a perfectly plucked, blond eyebrow as she shifted her attention from her Calculus book to her, now pouting, friend.

"Because..." Rinoa began, inserting a pregnant pause to emphasize the profound horror of what she was about to relate.

"Oh, spit it out already!" Zell cried from his seat on the couch opposite the raven haired drama queen. Obviously patience was _not _one of his virtues.

"Fine!" Rinoa harrumphed, "He refused to be my date to the homecoming dance." And with that said, the sulky look once more appeared on her face, making her look all the more like the spoiled, little brat that the entirety of Richmont High School knew her to be.

Irvine let out a small chuckle at Rinoa's expense from his position on the armrest closest to Quistis. "Well, darlin', that's no biggie. I'm sure there are plenty of other fine gentlemen who would be more than willing to escort you to the dance," he intoned, giving Rinoa one of his patented sexy smirks.

"I hope you're not including yourself among those 'fine gentlemen,'" Quistis remarked dryly, giving Irvine a scrutinizing look as she carefully marked the place she'd left off in her book with a finger. "After all, you already agreed to go with Selphie. Did that just happen to slip your mind, or are you simply being a shameless flirt as usual?"

Irvine snorted at Quistis's typical response before flashing her a charming smile. "Just tryin' to make the little lady feel better is all, Quistis. Besides, I was thinking about trying to set Rinoa up with one of the guys on the football team."

Quistis merely rolled her eyes before resuming her reading. Rinoa seemed to perk up at the mention of being hooked up with one of the football players.

Her disappointment forgotten, she eagerly perched on the edge of the sofa, leaning towards Irvine. "Really, Irvy?! Oh my god! Do you think there's anyone on the team that doesn't have a date yet? Oh that would be wonderful! Just don't make me look too desperate—and make sure he's handsome..." Rinoa rambled on and on about her list of requirements, but nobody was really listening to her anymore.

Quistis was still reading, trying to block out Rinoa's incessant chatter so that she could concentrate on the material she wanted to make sure she knew before the test next period. She had already read the chapter twice, but you could never be too prepared.

Irvine merely leaned back against the couch, sliding down the armrest so that he now sat on the cushion beside Quistis. He looked rather bored and as if he might just fall asleep. When Rinoa had first started he had mumbled various agreements and nodded his head in affirmation every once in a while to let Rinoa know that he was paying close attention, but Rinoa was so caught up in her dreams of the perfect date Irvine was going to get her for the dance that she didn't even notice that he had stopped even pretending to listen.

Zell, not surprisingly, had already escaped, mumbling something about hotdogs. You'd think that the five hotdogs he had consumed at lunch not even an hour ago would have filled him up, but Zell's stomach was like a bottomless pit and hotdogs were his favorite.

Finally, the bell rang, signaling the end of fourth hour. That meant they only had five minutes to get to their next class.

Quistis hurriedly stashed away her math book in her dark blue messenger bag, before shouldering it and heading off in the direction of her calculus class, too preoccupied to say goodbye to her two friends that were still sitting on the couches.

Rinoa hopped up shortly after Quistis's departure, straightening her denim skirt before shouldering her own messenger bag and picking up her purse. "Thanks for finding me a date for the dance. You're the best!" Rinoa thanked Irvine with a big smile on her face before heading off to her French class. You'd think Irvine had already actually found her a date; which he hadn't.

_Great. Why the hell did I tell her I would try and get her a date? What if there isn't anyone on the team, at least not any one decent, that doesn't have a date already? Oh crap, Rinoa would kill me if that happened._ Irvine's train of thought was cut short by the ringing of the bell signaling the start of fifth hour. _Damn, late again._ Despite his desire to just stay on the couch and take a quick nap, he heaved himself up, gathering his stuff together as fast as he could manage and headed towards the gym for his weights class.

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Author's Note: Okay, I know it's a little short and all, but this seemed like a good place to stop and I wanted to see how people would respond before I go on. I know I didn't have Squall, Seifer, or Selphie in this chapter (though two of them were mentioned), but they should be included in the next one. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed it! 


	2. Better Luck Next Time

Summary: All your favorite characters from FFVIII as they would be had they gone to a typical high school. Classes, crushes, bullies, jocks...yep, just your typical high school experience.

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CHAPTER TWO: BETTER LUCK NEXT TIME

Mr. Holland was already taking roll, going along the line of students and placing a mark next to each student that was not in attendance, by the time Irvine jogged up the stairs to join the class.

"Hmm...late as usual, Mr. Kinneas," the teacher remarked with annoyance, giving Irvine a scrutinizing look. "I hope that you know that I take off points from your grade for excessive tardies."

Irvine grimaced, imagining failing the class merely because he couldn't manage to get himself moving after his free hour. He quickly plastered an apologetic look onto his face and thought up a reasonable excuse for his tardiness. "I'm really sorry that I was late sir, I...I was having problems with my locker." The excuse sounded lame, even to his own ears, but it was the only thing that he had been able to think of.

Mr. Holland didn't look like he was going to accept the excuse and, truthfully, Irvine couldn't blame him. "I'm afraid that excuses won't cut it anymore, Kinneas. You've already run up five tardies so far this semester, this will be the sixth. That means that you'll have to serve detention. Come by my office after class and we'll discuss when and where you'll serve it." Irvine sighed, nodded his compliance, and glumly made his way to his spot in the middle of the line, scuffing his toe along the cement floor as he did so. "Okay class, time to warm up. I want three laps. Go!"

Mr. Holland blew a whistle he always had on a string around his neck (in typical P.E. teacher fashion) and the class obediently turned and began to jog around the outside edges of the upper story of the gym, where the weights class was held, in a counter-clockwise fashion as usual. Irvine let his mind drift as he ran, the typical laps around the gym requiring no thought or attention to perform.

He recalled his promise (of sorts) to Rinoa to get her a date for homecoming and, looking around, he realized that weights class would be the perfect place to start on the task. Besides, the sooner he got it done with, the better. He didn't think he could handle Rinoa pestering him every minute of every day until he found someone to take her to the dance.

Unsurprisingly many of the football players were taking weights and quite a few of them were in Irvine's class. _Let's see, there's Doebler, Smith, Vaughn, Johnson, Raleigh, Bailey, and Almasy. Which one would Rinoa be interested in? Hmm...well, Smith looks like a troll; I wouldn't date him if I were a girl and I'm sure Rinoa would kill me if I got her a date with him...Doebler's okay looking, but he's kind of a womanizer; I don't think I'd be able to forgive myself if I set Rinoa up with him...Raleigh—no, too weird...Johnson—already has a date...damn, this is hard! Let's see, there are Vaughn, Bailey, and Almasy left. Well, Vaughn mentioned something about asking Alicia and Bailey is an asshole...I guess that leaves Almasy. I don't know that much about him, but I guess it's worth a try.  
_  
Soon the warm-up run was over and everyone was once again assembled in the weights room in alphabetical order in a straight line. They all quickly did their stretches as Mr. Holland called out each stretch they were supposed to be doing and then they were dismissed to go to their benches after grabbing their recording sheets.

Irvine slowly made his way to bench number 10, second in from the right side of the weights room and one of the farthest from the entrance. He shared the bench with Bailey (that's how he knew he was an asshole) and upon getting there was promptly ordered to go get twenty pound weights from the rake. Giving Bitchy Bailey (as he had started to refer to him in his head) a glare, he quickly spun around and stalked over to the weights on the opposite side of the room, almost running into someone along the way. That someone happened to be none other than Seifer Almasy, the very person he intended to talk to sometime during the period and now seemed as good a time as any.

"Hey, Almasy, you going to the dance?" He tried to sound casual, maybe mildly curious, instead of desperate to find a date for Rinoa. He managed to pull it off pretty well, though Seifer still gave him an odd look.

"I haven't really thought about it. What's it to you, Kinneas?" The reply from Seifer was somewhat guarded, questioning. It was as if he was silently asking Irvine why the hell he was talking to him, it's not like they were friends.

"Nothing, just wondering if you had a date. I'm taking Selphie." Umm, yeah...that was kind of awkward. When Seifer just gave him a look as if he was crazy, Irvine decided that it was time to try a different tactic. "Listen, I have this friend and she asked me to find her a date for the dance. I was just wondering if you'd be interested in going with her." Irvine crossed his fingers hoping that Seifer would just agree to go with Rinoa.

"No, _you_ listen, Kinneas. I don't need _you_ or anyone _else_ to get me some charity date, so if you'll excuse me, I've got to go lift some weights." With that, he gave Irvine was last sneer before turning and marching off, 25 pound weights in hand.

_Well, that went well_, Irvine thought sarcastically, sighing loudly before picking up his own weights and making his way back to his and Bailey's bench.

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Author's Note: Hmm...this chapter was kind of just a filler, I guess. Well, Seifer was introduced, though Squall and Selphie still haven't really entered the picture. I don't really know where I want to take this story, if anyone has any ideas I'd be happy to hear them. It might take a while for the next chapter to get out, though reviews will make me work faster. ;) Hope you liked this chapter all right. I know the chapters are kind of short, sorry about that; I'll try to start making them longer. 


	3. Jerks and Perks

Summary: All your favorite characters from FFVIII as they would be had they gone to a typical high school. Classes, crushes, bullies, jocks...yep, just your typical high school experience.

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CHAPTER THREE: JERKS AND PERKS

_What the hell did that jerk Kinneas think he was doing? What, does he think I need him to get me a date; that I'm not capable of getting one on my own if I even wanted one in the first place? And like I'd ever go out—even to some stupid dance—with that stuck up, drama queen Rinoa_, Seifer fumed internally, glaring at nothing in particular and scaring some of the shrimpy Sophomores (which he would have been very proud of had he been paying attention.)

He threw the weights he had just retrieved down on a nearby wrestling mat, hoping it would absolve some of his anger—it didn't. But perhaps what was about to happen next would.

"What the _hell_ do you think you're _doing_?!" shouted an irritated Doebler, voice rising an octave in anger. _How the hell did I get stuck with him as a bench partner again? Oh yeah, divine retribution, what a pain in the ass_, Seifer thought sarcastically to himself.

"That almost landed on my foot!" Doebler continued to complain and Seifer found himself the one becoming irritated now.

_What the hell? The weight didn't land anywhere near his foot; though I kinda wish it had..._"Oops, missed," was Seifer's innocent reply as he sent a mirth filled smirk Doebler's way.

"You're going to pay for that, Almasy," Doebler threatened, his voice coming out as a harsh whisper, trying to sound intimidating and yet not wanting to be overheard by the teacher at the same time.

Seifer merely raised a blonde eyebrow mockingly. "What are you gonna _do_, Doebler, beat me up?" he asked with derision, drawing himself up to his full height and looking down upon Doebler questioningly. While Doebler was a Junior and on the football team, just like him, he was about four inches shorter and not even in the same league as Seifer when it came to muscles.

Doebler merely glared at him, hating him even more now that he had made fun of his attempt at a threat, calling his bluff (there was really no way that he would be able to beat Seifer up, or even pull one over on him; as he should very well know), before turning back to the bench and sitting down to resume his arm curls.

_Stupid idiot. He thought that he could intimidate me, Seifer Almasy? Yeah right_, Seifer scoffed, bending down to pick up the weights that he had thrown to the mats a minute ago and had, invariably, caused the whole ordeal with Doebler, _not that he wouldn't have found some other thing to get mad at me for if I hadn't dropped them. I swear, he's almost as bad as Rinoa. And speaking of Rinoa, to think that that bastard Kinneas wanted me to take her to homecoming!  
_  
Somehow, his thoughts had led him, subsequently, back to Kinneas and the other 'ordeal' that had happened this period in P.E. Now that he thought about it, though, it was actually (Dare he admitt it?) kind of funny. _To think, 'Princess' Rinoa wasn't able to find a date for herself. She had to have Kinneas do it for her. It's almost laughable, but...ugh...that means they must be friends...how revolting._ The thought of anyone being friends with the spoiled brat (though he knew she had many) was somewhat confusing to Seifer. _Who the hell would want to put up with her?_ He had learned from experience, himself, that she was better avoided.

The rest of the period passed by with no more 'incidents.' It wasn't quite as exciting as the first part of the period, but it went by fairly quickly and soon Mr. Holland (3 minutes before the bell would ring, as per usual) dismissed them to go change and get ready for their next (and last) class.

Seifer (as always) swore at the announcement; he _hated _his 6th hour. _AP Chem. With Rinoa, enough said. And Quistis, stupid know it all. And Selphie (she really needs to lay off the Pixie Stix.) And last, but not least, Squall. Okay, so Squall isn't that bad. Sure,we kind of hate each other, but there's also a mutual respect (as lame as that sounds.) At least Leonhart is actually good at Chem, which is thankful, considering he's my lab partner and I never bother trying in that class (what's the use with that idiot Moore teaching it?) Why am I even taking the stupid class again? Hmm...that's a good question...  
_  
But, seeing as there was no point in lagging behind (it wouldn't make the class start any later, though maybe getting to class a bit late today wasn't such a bad idea; not that he needed another tardy to add to his already lengthy list), Seifer made his way down with the rest of the class to the bottom floor where the lockers were. He hastily made his way to the back, changing into his regular clothes and putting some more deodorant on before folding his P.E. attire and stuffing it, along with his shoes, into his sports locker.

Picking up his backpack, he headed out the locker room door and to the gym that lay beyond it. You were supposed to wait here until the bell rang and _then _go (at least that was what all of the teachers said), but Seifer had never been one to follow the rules. Besides, what was the point of waiting?

Glancing around to make sure that none of the teachers were watching (he could do without another detention thank you very much) he noticed Kinneas heading to Holland's office to receive _his_ detention. Somehow, the thought of Irvine getting a detention pleased Seifer (almost enough so for him to forgive the poor bastard for trying to fix him up with Rinoa--_Almost_.)

With a satisfied smirk Seifer went through the exit doors and out to the five minute freedom called the 'passing period,' wondering, _Why the hell they can't they make it so that it's actually a real period, fifty minutes long like the rest?_ as he let the doors slam shut, with a load clang, behind him.

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Author's Note: Well, this one pretty much had Seifer. Still no Squall or Selphie. Don't worry, they should be coming up in the next chapter (remember, they're in the chemistry class, which is going to be next.) I hope you liked this chapter; still don't know where this story is going...oh well. 


	4. Ditz, Pricks, and Moore

Summary: All your favorite characters from FFVIII as they would be had they gone to a typical high school. Classes, crushes, bullies, jocks...yep, just your typical high school experience.

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CHAPTER FOUR: DITZ, PRICKS, AND MOORE

Class had been underway for a good five minutes before Seifer finally decided to grace them with his presence. _Stupid prick, _Squall thought to himself as his lab partner, who just happened to be the 'stupid prick' he had been referring to (_How the hell did I get stuck with him?_) came striding nonchalantly up to the bench Squall was working at. Bench number 13 (_definitely an unlucky number, at least in this case_), the one the two of them had been assigned to for the remainder of the year. _Just shoot me now. _

"You're late," Squall commented coldly, not even bothering to look up from the chemicals he was mixing. He could hear Seifer scoff at that and could imagine the smirk that had most assuredly crossed his face.

"Yeah, what're _you_ gonna do about it, Leonhart?" the cocky bastard asked rhetorically. _Maybe a good punch in the nose would shut you up,_ Squall muttered angrily to himself, watching as his mixture let off a miniature explosion and released a small cloud of hydrogen gas. _I wish that was _you_ exploding, Almasy, _he thought viciously, turning to record the results of his experiment on his lab sheets.

"In case you haven't noticed, we have a _lab_ today," Squall announced harshly, knowing that Seifer couldn't care less. Before Seifer could cut in with some smart-aleck reply, he continued, "We have to turn in separate lab papers this time. You want a good grade, you earn it _yourself_." _There, maybe that will wipe that annoying, overly confident smirk off his face. _

"Tch...doesn't matter. It's not like Moore would notice one way or the other. She didn't even notice that I was late today, stupid blind bitch," was Seifer's offhand reply, seemingly unconcerned with the class or his grade in it. _Well, at least we agree on one thing: that stupid, idiotic, excuse for a teacher that we have has no clue what in the world she's talking about. _

"Does that mean you're not taking the AP exam (1), then?" Squall wondered aloud, deciding to try being a bit more civil (and talkative) than he usually was (especially when it came to Almasy.)

Seifer seemed a bit taken aback by the display of emotion (or what passed for emotion when it came to Squall), but he recovered quickly, giving a small shrug of his shoulders. "I don't know. It's not like I'm going to learn anything with Moore teaching the class, anyways; why bother taking the damn examination?" Seifer remarked, also being uncharacteristically nice. Until his last comment, that was. "Of course, you _are_ going to take the exam, aren't you, Leonhart? Yes, you wouldn't miss _that_. It's probably the highlight of your whole fucking year; you probably get off on taking exams like these; and it's not like you ever do anything besides studying anyway. Some of us _do_ have a life, you know?"

_Wow, that was harsh. Wonder what the hell could be eating him...not that I really care. Probably had another run-in with that ditzy cheerleader—what's her name?—Rina? No, Riona. That wasn't right, well, whatever._ It didn't really matter what her name was, anyway. _Maybe she asked Seifer to the dance as well...poor bastard. _

"You're including yourself among those that have a life? Funny, I would never have thought; after all, you're only 'friends' are those two lackeys that follow you around everywhere," Squall responded to Seifer's barb; it's not like he could just let it slide by.

"What would _you_ know about friends, loner? It's not like you actually _have_ any to speak of," Seifer snarled, returning more to his usual self. He sat down heavily on one of the bench's high stools, leaning back and using the raised lab countertop as a support for his back.

There was a slight tension growing in the air as the two surreptitiously cast heated glances at each other—that is, until Selphie came bounding over from the adjacent work bench. "Do you think that I can borrow your lighter thingy real quick?" the energetic girl asked politely, tilting her head slightly in question.

Seifer was the nearest to the 'lighter thingy'; he picked it up and tossed it somewhat roughly in Selphie's direction. She caught it, barely. "There. It's not like _I'm_ going to use it or anything," he said in reply. Selphie smiled happily in thanks as she skipped back to her own bench where her lab partner, a quiet boy named Nida, was waiting.

"I was _using_ that you know," Squall remarked icily, glaring at Seifer in annoyance.

Seifer smirked and gave a small, amused snort before replying, "Why do you think I _lent_ it to her?" he asked, making it clear that he was purposefully trying to piss Squall off—and enjoying himself immensely in the process.

"Asshole," Squall declared, giving Seifer one more glare before returning to his work, futilely attempting to ignore the annoying bastard seated beside him. He was actually doing a pretty good job—at _not_ paying attention to Almasy that is—until the prick started to hum quite loudly and obnoxiously. "Nock it off, you prick," Squall finally growled out in frustrated when Seifer's purposeful behavior became too much for him to bear. _Why does he always have to make it a point to get on my nerves?!_

"Oh, does that _bother_ you?" Seifer asked innocently—well, innocent is what he was going for, but anyone who knew Seifer could easily see through the act—pissing Squall off to no end, though he couldn't precisely put his finger on why it got under his skin so much.

"Yes," he ground out in reply to Almasy's question, not able to think up a more suitable retort as he gave Seifer a leave-me-alone-or-die glare, which he had perfected over many years of practice in front of the mirror and on many an unsuspecting middle schooler.

"Oh," was Seifer's only remark and Squall almost believed for a brief second that Almasy was, miraculously, going to leave him alone for once. Then the humming started up again, even louder this time.

Knowing there was nothing he could do about it, aside from punching the stupid fucker in the nose, Squall chanced a glance at the clock, hoping that the hell also known as AP chemistry would soon be over. Only seven minutes left to go..._I can do this. Soon school will be out and I can go home and crash for the rest of the day without a stupid, ditzy cheerleader or an annoying, gets-on-my-nerves football player to worry about. _

TO BE CONTINUED...

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Author's Notes: Yay! Another chapter finished. And Squall and Selphie were in this one as promised (though Selphie only made a brief appearance.) Next chapter will be in...hmm...whose point of view should I do? Let's see, I've done Irvine, Seifer, and Squall so far, maybe Selphie next? Anyways, let me know how this chapter was; I hope I did an okay job of characterizing Squall. Hope you liked it.

(1) In case you don't know what the AP exam is, here's a quick explanation. AP stands for Advanced Placement, which is, basically, a high school class that you can get college credit for. But to get the credit for college (and not just the high school credit), you have to take a standardized exam at the end of the year to test your knowledge. It doesn't matter what grade you got in the class for the college credits. The way the scoring goes is you can get from 1-5, one being the worst and five being the best. If you get a 3 or above then you can receive college credits for the class (at most colleges, at least.) Hope that helped. ;)


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